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Six Legs Walking: Notes from an Entomological Life
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About Six Legs Walking: Notes From An Entomological Life
Product Description WINNER - 2020 New Mexico-Arizona Book Award for Autobiography/Memoir "This is a most interesting read, scientific discussion with the occasional diversion into personality and comedy . . . Most of all, her patient dedicated passion for detailed observation of the minute interactions between predator and insect prey impressed this reviewer." -Entomologist's Gazette Like the painted lady butterflies that fascinated her as a child in Queensland, Australia, entomologist Elizabeth Bernays has lived a migratory adventure, following her scientific curiosity around the world before landing at the University of Arizona. In Six Legs Walking: Notes from an Entomological Life, Bernays takes us along on her evolution from backward child to accomplished biologist as she explores scholarship, culture, and love, all while immersed in the wonders of some of the smallest creatures on earth. Young Liz becomes enamored with insects in her home garden while working beside her mother, who worries over her daughter being deemed intellectually impaired. An introduction to a working scientist and the encouragement of a beloved teacher inspire Elizabeth to go on to the University of Queensland to study biology. While in graduate school in London, Elizabeth meets established entomologist Reg Chapman, who will become her partner in work and in life. As a British government scientist, she researches the habits of bugs in the hopes of finding biological solutions to controlling pests that damage crops in Nigeria, India, and Mali, working alongside local scientists and discovering the diversity of human cultural customs. As a professor at the University of California Berkeley, she learns about American individualism and advocating on her own behalf. At last, Bernays settles in the Sonoran Desert, where she is visited by a hawk moth that launches her on yet another entomological expedition. In this collection of autobiographical essays, Elizabeth Bernays educates readers on the progression and significance of biological research while sharing her sheer joy in the discoveries she makes. Six Legs Walking is the inspiring story of one woman's lifelong love affair with science. Review Elizabeth Bernays has written a beautiful memoir. Her sense of amazement at nature and boundless curiosity make this account of the attention, inventiveness, global spirit, and fun of a life in science shine. Insects, under her devoted scrutiny, prove to be spellbinding theater--"a performance of great skill." This book offers a window into how and why to care about the smallest among us. --Alison Hawthorne Deming, author of Zoologies: On Animals and the Human Spirit From her childhood in Australia and schooling in England to the wilds of Hungary, India, and Africa, Elizabeth Bernays asks the reader to become her entomological lab assistant, to suffer the tropical heat and grime and army ant bites of a true field researcher. Six Legs Walking is a fascinating, beautifully descriptive, and lyrical narrative that captures the essence of some strange agricultural pests and the exotic places where they dwell. --Ken Lamberton, author of Wilderness and Razor Wire and Chasing Arizona Elizabeth Bernays's memoir illustrates what drives a life in science--persistent curiosity and a healthy dose of fearlessness. These serve her well in the face of obstacles encountered as she makes her way to success as a rare female researcher. Most enjoyable are her clear-sighted observations and original thoughts about living things and about the connections between insects and people she meets along the way. --Nancy A. Moran, evolutionary biologist, 1997 MacArthur Fellow I very much enjoyed reading these engagingly written memoirs of a great naturalist and superb entomologist. Her deep love for nature, the acute commitment to her pioneering research, and her warm sense for the people around her shine through on every page. --Bert Hölldobler, Pulitzer Prize-winning coauthor of Th
